China has overtaken the United States as the world's largest consumer market for PCs.

During the second quarter, global PC sales saw China take a 22 percent share of the market while the U.S. took a 21 percent share.

Chinese workers are beginning to flex their consumer muscles after decades of growth in jobs--fueled by the transference of millions of U.S. manufacturing jobs to China--has given workers in that nation the discretionary income to spend on goods and services.

However, analysts do not expect Chinese consumers and businesses to purchase more computers than U.S. consumers and businesses do for all four quarters of 2011.

Market intelligence firm International Data Corp. says that 18.5 million units worth $11.9 billion were shipped in China during the second quarter while 17.7 million units valued at $11.7 billion were shipped in the US.

PC makers say they saw good demand for computers in both rural and urban areas of China.